The Accident
by LizBeth78
Summary: Karen/Danielle: Karen gets injured in a car accident.


The Accident

Danielle Spencer burst through the doors of the emergency room and sprinted over to the information desk. "My wife?!" she demanded, "where's my wife?!"

The receptionist looked up. "Ma'am, you need to calm down," she scolded.

Danielle stared at her incredulously. "My wife was just brought in to the emergency room, and you expect me to calm down?!" she shrieked hysterically.

"What is your wife's name?" the receptionist asked calmly.

"K-Karen," Danielle replied, sobbing now, "K-Karen S-Spencer. Sh-She was in a car accident. P-Please, where is she? C-Can I see her?"

The receptionist typed Karen's name into the computer, and, once she found her information, she stood up and gestured to the hallway on the right. "Last door on the left," she said.

"Th-Thank you," Danielle said, relieved, "and I'm sorry for screaming at you."

The receptionist smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry about it. I understand."

Danielle hurried down the coridor, stopping outside of Karen's room, furiously scrubbing at her face in an attempt to dry her tears. When she entered the room, she found her wife sitting up in bed, a doctor standing next to her, carefully stitching up a gash on her forehead.

Danielle drew in a shaky breath, then moved around to the other side of the bed, sitting in the chair and taking Karen's hand. "Hi love. How are you feeling?"

Karen smiled weakly. "I've been better," she remarked dryly. "Dani, this is Doctor Chamberlain; Doctor, this is my wife, Danielle."

"Nice to meet you," Doctor Chamberlain said.

"Likewise," Danielle responded. Then she asked anxiously, "how is she?"

Doctor Chamberlain finished the last stitch and stepped back. "She has a mild concussion, and I'd like to keep her overnight for observation, but if all goes well, she should be able to go home tomorrow. She'll just need to take it easy for the next several days. Plus, she'll need to come back in two weeks to have the stitches removed."

Just then, the door burst open, and a frantic Caroline rushed in, followed by her husband Rick. "Mom?!"

Karen gently withdrew her hand from Danielle's, opening her arms for her daughter. "I'm fine sweetheart," she soothed, rocking her gently and stroking her hair.

Doctor Chamberlain repeated his assessment of Karen's condition for Rick and Caroline's benefit, then exited the room, leaving the family alone.

"Mom, what happened?" Caroline asked, still nestled in her mother's arms.

"I swerved to avoid hitting a kid on a skateboard, and skidded into a tree," Karen answered. She pulled Caroline closer with one arm, while returning her other hand to Danielle's grasp, knowing that her wife needed the physical contact as much as she herself did.

Rick and Caroline stayed for over an hour, filling Karen and Danielle in on how married life was going for them, and about work. But Rick could tell that, as much as they were enjoying this time with their daughter, the two women desperately needed some time alone. After some gentle persuasion, he finally convinced Caroline that they should leave. After hugging her moms fiercely, and promising to do a better job of keeping in touch, she finally allowed her husband to lead her away.

As soon as they were alone, Danielle moved to sit on the bed next to her wife, both women immediately wrapping their arms around one another. "The woman that called to tell me you were here couldn't tell me anything about your condition," Danielle said softly, desperately trying to maintain her composure. "I didn't know how badly you were injured or-" she choked back a sob. "I was a wreck by the time I got here, and I kinda flipped out on the poor receptionist, especially when she told me that I needed to calm down." She attempted a chuckle, but the tears would no longer be controlled, and the chuckle turned into a sob, which turned into another sob, and she completely fell apart.

Seeing her normally calm, cool and collected wife in this state was heart-wrenching, and Karen felt completely helpless. All she could do was hold her and wait for the storm to pass. It took a while, but the woman in her arms finally calmed.

"S-Sorry," Danielle choked out, attempting to pull away in embarrassment.

Karen only tightened her embrace. "Sweetie, you have nothing to apologize for or feel embarrassed about. And I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. You heard what Doctor Chamberlain said. I'm gonna be just fine." She chuckled. "You won't get rid of me that easily."

"You promise?" Danielle asked, sounding more childlike and vulnerable than Karen had ever heard.

Karen smiled reassuringly. "I promise," she whispered, pressing a tender kiss to Danielle's forehead.

Danielle tilted her face upwards, searching for her wife's lips, and Karen didn't disappoint. Their first few kisses were soft, slow, sweet and tender. But as time passed, Karen became more and more aggressive. She clasped her hands together at the back of Danielle's head, keeping the younger woman's mouth pressed firmly against her own. She drew Danielle's bottom lip into her mouth, nibbling on it with her teeth before soothing it with her tongue. Danielle moaned and gasped, her lips parting, and Karen took advantage of the opening and thrust her tongue into her wife's warm mouth, their tongues swirling and tangling together in an erotic dance.

Eventually, they had no choice but to come up for air. They rested their foreheads together and held onto each other for dear life.

"Wow!" Danielle breathed out shakily, "you haven't kissed me like that in a long time!"

"I know, and that's a mistake I plan on correcting immediately!" Karen declared.

Danielle grinned. "I think you've already started."

Karen smirked. "Oh baby. You ain't seen nothin' yet. Just wait till we get home."

Danielle gazed at her adoringly. "I'm looking forward to it. But," she added firmly, "Only once you're fully recovered.

Karen rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "So bossy."

Danielle grinned. "You know it."

They sat silently holding each other for several minutes until Danielle noticed that Karen was leaning more heavily against her. "You should rest now love," she suggested softly, reluctantly pulling herself from Karen's embrace and standing up.

"I am a bit tired," Karen conceded, pressing the button to lower the bed into a laying position. "I should tell you to go home and rest, she added as Danielle helped her adjust her pillow, "but I know it wouldn't do any good."

Danielle smirked. "You got that right!" She leaned down to press a tender kiss on Karen's lips before reseating herself in the chair beside the bed. Karen reached out, and Danielle gently clasped her hand, interlacing their fingers.

There was silence for several minutes, and Danielle thought that Karen had fallen asleep until the other woman spoke softly. "Thank you for staying. I really didn't want to be alone."

At her wife's admission, a lump formed in Danielle's throat and her eyes misted. Even after being together for over twenty years, Karen still found it difficult to ask for help or to admit to needing anyone. So when she allowed herself to be vulnerable, Danielle didn't take that lightly.

She kicked off her shoes, then climbed onto the bed to lay beside her wife, immediately enveloping the other woman in her arms. "It's okay sweetheart. Everything's okay," she crooned, gently combing her fingers through Karen's blonde hair. "I'm right here. You're not alone. You're okay. You're safe. Sleep now, my love."

Karen curled into the security of her wife's embrace, finally beginning to drift off to sleep. "I love you so much," she murmured drowsily.

"I love you too," Danielle whispered.

That was the last thing Karen heard before succumbing to exhaustion.

The End


End file.
